Friday, June 22, 2007

Supply vs. Demand

Look up economics 101 and the first thing you will learn is about supply and demand. This basic principle defines supply as how much of something is available, while demand is how much of something people want. The more people want the more value you can get for supplying it to them. The great majorities of us deal with supply and demand daily in our work environment (we are all salesmen so get over it) but rarely apply it to our “self”.

Our “self” is the most valuable asset we own, for without it we amount to nothing, but generally is the least invested entity we put our focus into. So when we fill ourselves with great quantities of worthless information through simply existing, we diminish the demand others have for us. On the other hand, when we fill ourselves with enriching and impactful qualities, we create a great demand for us as a person, therefore expanding our value and opportunity.

When we are young we are told not to be selfish and to think of others before ourselves, to be a team player. This is a great general concept, but I would argue to great lengths that when we are not selfish we don’t allow ourselves to create a demand for who we are. You cannot create demand for you until you take the time to supply yourself with useful tools. This means that you first must invest in yourself before others will ever recognize value in you, let alone demand anything you have to offer. In order for this to happen there is a great deal of selfishness that needs to take place. So what do we do? We educate ourselves to the point where our “self” is desirable to us first, before it can have any value to others.

When we do the opposite we become a great “yes” person, filling in the voids for others while generally having no value, therefore becoming expendable. Once we are not worth preserving we simply become irrelevant and are outsourced the minute a cheaper and younger product is available.

Let’s face it, we live in a personal and professional market economy and when it comes to “self” that market value is dictated by the person we allow ourselves to become. Feel that the world is against you and that is the result you will get. Feel that you are the hottest stock in the market and that is what you will become because you will make that initial investment in yourself. When your time is up on this earth your value is not based on how much you had, but how much you had to offer, and that cannot be achieved until you create a demand in your “self”.